Today, I was riding a city bus in Sofia, Bulgaria. The buses are fairly old but that doesn’t bother me. My girlfriend and I had been walking in the rain with umbrellas and got on.

We got on and I casually noticed an old man walking past me for the exit of bus at the back. I didn’t think much more about him until about two minutes had passed. My girlfriend and I had punched our tickets and were sitting. As we were sitting, I heard some screaming that sounded muffled or not very loud. I looked around and saw that the old man was stuck in the bus exit. His head was the only part that was out of the bus. The door was completely shut.

I immediately stood up and went to see if I could open the door. The man was screaming outside the closed door. I screamed at my girlfriend and she and other Bulgarians screamed to “Stop the Bus,” and to “Open the door.”

The bus stopped and the door was opened and the old man jumped off immediately to the rain and I suppose was okay. I was rather disturbed by seeing this. Makes you think about everything around you and to be on guard.

06:54 AM CDT on Monday, April 20, 2009

By MARK NORRIS / The Dallas Morning News
norrism@dallasnews.com

Applications are up for the Peace Corps, Teach for America and AmeriCorps as Texans turn to service organizations in increasing numbers during the economic downturn.

The state numbers mirror national figures that show year-to-year increases beginning in 2007. Initial numbers of applicants this year are far outpacing those for any previous year.

Jim Guittard, who returned in late 2008 from a two-year mission for the Peace Corps, isn’t surprised.

“With the economy the way it is, people are looking for other things,” said Guittard, who lives in northeast Dallas. “They’re searching for a more satisfying or fulfilling life.”

Officials with the Peace Corps are still tallying the number of applications received in February, but according to the Dallas office’s Shannon Borders, it will probably be a record for one month.

AmeriCorps tripled the amount of applications it received in February this year compared with last.

Kerci Marcello Stroud, Teach for America’s regional communications director, said more people mentioned the economy during the just-completed application period than in years past. Some applicants told her the economic downturn made them re-evaluate what was important to them.

“There’s a growing interest among young people to engage in public service,” Stroud said.

The vast majority of applicants for AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps and Teach for America are recent college graduates.

Of the 35,000 applications Teach for America received this year, 25,000 were from graduating seniors. The remainder was split between graduate students and young professionals less than five years removed from graduation.

Sandy Nunez volunteered for Teach for America after graduating in spring 2007 from the University of Texas at Austin. She thought about joining the Peace Corps or other service organizations before deciding she could be most effective teaching children in underperforming schools.

“It seemed like a very appealing way to get involved,” said Nunez, who is about to complete her two-year commitment in the San Benito schools.

She recently decided to stay on for a third year, saying the state of the economy was a small part of her decision.

Borders said the Peace Corps targets recent college graduates. The median age of its volunteers in 25. There is no age limit, however, and 5 percent of the volunteer force is over 50. The oldest current volunteer is 84.

Guittard joined the Peace Corps 10 years after graduating from college. He had worked at an insurance company among other jobs and decided he wanted to take his life in a different direction.

“In college, I had considered the Peace Corps,” he said. “I didn’t want to have regrets in my life, so I decided to go apply.”

Guittard wound up teaching English to high-school-age students in Bulgaria for two years and taking away an appreciation of how tight-knit families were and how tough his students’ lives were.

He said people who apply need to have the maturity to handle being the situation they are entering.

That vetting is part of the application process, said Borders. She said the biggest surprise is people finding out it can take six to12 months to complete.

But it’s worth it, according to Guittard, who said, “I learned a lot and I’m more appreciative of what I have.”

JUAN GARCIA/DMNJim Guittard taught English to high-school-age students in Bulgaria for two years.

Back on September 30, 2008, I was interviewed for Sofia, Bulgaria Internet Radio Station ‘Tangra Mega Rock’. Radio DJ Vassil Varbanov ran the show. Various tracks were played and I got a chance to explain the real scoop behind my 3 Psychedelic/Folk-Rock albums, living in Bulgaria as foreigner, and my previous work teaching as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pernik. The Albums are:

This is part 2 of a series of commentary about my album, “Busted in Bulgaria”, that I recorded while I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pernik, Bulgaria. From April 2006 to July 2008 I taught English in the Bulgarian high school. It was while confined to my Post-Soviet style block that I documented my whereabouts through song.

The songs comment on life outside America and are in the Psychedelic and Folk-rock genres.

This is part 1 of a series of commentary about my album, “Busted in Bulgaria”, that I recorded while I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pernik, Bulgaria. From April 2006 to July 2008 I taught English in the Bulgarian high school. It was while confined to my Post-Soviet style block that I documented my whereabouts through song.

The songs comment on life outside America and are in the Psychedelic and Folk-rock genres.

I just found that there is a website where all the Speedy Deletion pages from Wikipedia are uploaded there. It’s a site called: http://deletionpedia.dbatley.com

My page was in this category. The specific reason for my removal from existence is because user Toddst1 opined that the article claimed nothing “important or significant.” I would, of course, tend to disagree and I am sure that many others would, too. I am not claiming to contribute to society in a big huge way but at the very least worth mentioning. Sometimes I need to pat myself on the back for sticking to my guns. And believe me, this is an accurate summation of my creative pursuit. I’m putting in my dues.

I have done many things since April 2008 date of being banished from Wikipedia. I have released 3 albums for free on Jamendo.

California Daze – 2002

The Notorious G.I.D.D. – 2005

Busted In Bulgaria – 2008

In addition, I released the debut album of the Ragas on Jamendo. (The duo I was in in Los Angeles with Henry McGuinn.)

In early October, I appeared on the Tangra Mega Rock Radio station for a live interview over my happenings here in Sofia, Bulgaria. I am still here digging my way around, trying to rise up from the underground. But I don’t know why some people get deleted on Wikipedia and some don’t.

Jim Guittard (deleted 05 Apr 2008 at 00:09)
Jim Guittard has been deleted from Wikipedia. An archived version is shown below. Other versions of this page may be available.
Toddst1 deleted Jim Guittard because A7 (group): Group/band/club/company/etc; doesn’t indicate importance/significance.
This page was created 4 April 2008 and deleted 5 April 2008 (0 days).[show]

The page was edited most often during April 2008. (info).

This page was deleted in a speedy deletion. The reason given was It is an article about a band, singer, musician, or musical ensemble that does not indicate the importance or significance of the subject. (CSD A7).
The speedy deletion was contested.

Jim Guittard is an American singer-songwriter who has played in the Southern California duo the Ragas with the son of Roger McGuinn, the founder of the Byrds. The music of the Ragas is in the raga rock or psychedelic rock styles patterned after the Byrds.

In July 2005, Guittard told the Dallas Morning News that he hoped to head to Eastern Europe or Central Asia for the Peace Corps in the fall.

Jim followed his heart and he is currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria. In 2007, there was a country-wide Bulgarian Teacher Strike. He was written up in the Sofia Echo, the leading English language newspaper in Bulgaria for a song he composed on this issue.

Check out the link below. This is my entry on the deletionpedia site. Make a search for your favorite bands. They’ve probably been deleted too. Post your results as a comment to me. I’m curious how many honest people have been deleted.

Even Roger McGuinn has had his run in with Wikipedia over pictures he has tried posting.

Wikipedia deleted the photo I put on my page as a blatant copyright violation. Hey I own it and their removal of it is vandalism!

and

Trying to put a photo on my Wikipedia page is extremely difficult! I put it up they delete it and say “You aren’t Roger McGuinn himself?”

Last weekend I played at a festival in Lovech, Bulgaria. There were over 40 guitarists who call themselves “Bards.” It was a rather nice event. I will admit that I was very nervous getting up to play because I hadn’t played public in over two years. I guess it was kinda similiar to Elvis’ 1968 Comeback but I didn’t have the nice leather outfit. 🙂

The whole Bard movement is especially needed in Bulgaria. The whole Chalga thing will wither away I predict when people wake up to how stupid it is. I mean Aziz, what’s so great about this guy? Nothing at all.

The Bards sing about meaningful and important stuff not just kickin’ it with your homies in da club. So I hope that those in Bulgaria with take up the Bard cause. The Revolution Is Now! Are you tuned in or tuned out?

My girlfriend filmed me and so here I post me playing my song “Stachkata.” I wrote the song back a year ago and it caused quite a stink with the powers that be: namely the Peace Corps. I almost got kicked out of it. The song has survived. For you non-Bulgarian readers, the song was written for the nation-wide teachers strike in Bulgaria that lasted two months.

The Blog Documenting the Life Of Jim Guittard

4th Generation Musician and 2nd Generation Writer.
Disclaimer:
MP3s on this site are for sampling purposes only. If you are an artist or represent an artist featured on this site and would like a file removed write me at jfguittard (at) juno (dot) com.